My Bal. It is just so shiny.

I purchased a spring 2015 bal classic city. I was a little turned off by its shininess but held onto it. I didn't carry it a ton the first year. However, I've carried it almost every day to work for the past four months and I LOVE it now. As mentioned in other posts around the Bal forum, the shininess does fade with use. There's still a sheen but it's lovely; and not the garish shine it had before. It fits my stuff perfectly, is so discreet yet stylish, and beautiful! Love the slouch.

Yay! That's awesome. The slouch is truly so delicious. I'm glad I gave this bag a chance; it would have been such a shame to give up on it!
 
Wait, what?? You can buy a separate strap from bal for a city bag??

YESSSS FRIEND! Call a boutique and order one! I learned about it in a thread on here and just went in and asked for it; she knew exactly what I was talking about. I've heard the Bal boutique in Dallas is particularly easy to deal with for doing orders over the phone. It was about $160. And it has TRANSFORMED my experience with this bag. So much easier for me to carry now.